Coastal states determined to ruin marriage?
A California judge has ruled that denying gay couples a marriage license is unconstitutional because it is discriminatory. In the eyes of the state, their is no real reason to deny same-sex couples a marriage license when they give them out to opposite-sex couples without reservation. Now that Massachusetts and California must allow gay marriage, with Washington right behind, what is an Evangelical Christian to do? I say the answer is to separate the sacred from the secular, but don't take my word on it. Try the Presbyterian Church (USA), ultra-conservative and legal expert Alan M. Dershowitz, the Detroit News, and the Mennonite Weekly Review.I am worried about the political fallout of these decisions. Will Bush whip up his rhetoric on the "sanctity of marriage" only to use his political capital to push a social security reform that no one wants? Will the religious right's committement to the Republicans weaken as it become obvious that no politician is willing to stand up and make the case for legal discrimination? Will Dobson and others lose their ability to rouse the grassroots now that they've been beaten? Will they redouble their efforts?
More importantly, let us contemplate what one of my longtime friends, CK, who (like usual) prophetically wrote earlier this week, "What is the Church in North America going to do when homosexual marriage becomes legal? We've made this such a cornerstone issue in this nation that when the hopes and dreams of millions of Evangelicals are dashed in the courtrooms, what kind of reaction is there going to be?"
posted by Expat Teacher @ 1:36 PM
